The Melbourne Central Catholic Hustlers are taking a road trip to square off against the Bayside Bears at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Melbourne Central Catholic is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.5 runs per game this season.
Melbourne Central Catholic's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They put the hurt on Merritt Island Christian with a sharp 12-0 victory. The Hustlers haven't had any issues with the Cougars recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.
Collin O'Connell
| 03/04/25 @ Merritt Island Christian | 2 |
| 02/19/25 @ Astronaut | 1 |
| 02/14/25 @ Heritage | 1 |
| 02/13/25 @ Space Coast | 1 |
| 02/11/25 vs Satellite | 1 |
Thomas Chiuchiolo and Collin O'Connell made a big impact while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Chiuchiolo tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, O'Connell pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in April of 2024. At the plate, Chiuchiolo went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one double, while O'Connell went 1-for-2 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. Those two runs gave O'Connell a new career-high.
In other batting news, Cole Carroll was excellent, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-2. He also put up a double, which was his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Thomas Gonnella, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Melbourne Central Catholic always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .531. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Merritt Island Christian only posted an OBP of .176.
Meanwhile, Bayside's undefeated season came to an end after six games on Tuesday. They fell just short of Satellite by a score of 3-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Bears have suffered since April 2, 2024.
Bayside saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Austin Still, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2.
Melbourne Central Catholic's record now sits at 6-2. As for Bayside, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 6-1.
Melbourne Central Catholic suffered a grim 9-3 defeat to Bayside when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can Melbourne Central Catholic avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
